Investigation of Folate Functionalized Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery

The goal of the research is to investigate methods for the attachment of folic acid on polylactic acid (PLA) nanoparticles. This small molecule ligand can target the folate receptor which is overexpressed on many types of cancer tissue. Thus, folate functionalized biodegradable nanoparticles are of interest for targeted drug delivery. Since PLA acid lacks reactive surface groups for conjugation, amine groups will be introduced on the nanoparticles using layer-by-layer self-assembly. Characterization will be done using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fluorescence microscopy, UV/VIS spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM).

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